Global Business & Economy

WARSAW: Poland is likely to cut interest rates by 25 basis points next week before delivering one more reduction in the second quarter to counter a long decline in consumer prices, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.Seventeen out of 25 economists polled from Feb. 25 to Feb. 27 expect the central bank's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) to cut the benchmark rate to a new record low of 1.75 percent when it meets on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.Five analyst see a 50 basis point cut, while three expect no change. On average, the poll gave a 57 percent chance of a 25 basis point cut in March, a 25 percent chance for a half-point cut and an 18 percent chance rates will remain unchanged. The median of forecasts showed analysts expect rates to bottom out at 1.50 percent in the second quarter, implying one more quarter-point cut, and stay at ...

FRANKFURT: Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, was back in positive territory in February with consumer prices rising by 0.1 percent, official data showed on Friday.The previous month, the consumer price index had fallen for the first time in five years, dropping by 0.4 percent as a result of lower energy prices. According to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) -- the yardstick used by the European Central Bank -- inflation in Germany remained ...

NEW DELHI: India's economy is in a "sweet spot" and ready to grow by more than eight percent in the next financial year, an official report said Friday on the eve of the new right-wing government's first full-year budget.The India Economic Survey, an annual report prepared by the finance ministry, said growth would be between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in the 2015-16 financial year, reaching levels last seen five years earlier.The ministry said the data ...

ATHENS: Greece's troubled economy contracted by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 instead of the 0.2-percent figure given earlier this month, the state statistics agency said on Friday."Available seasonally adjusted data indicate that in the fourth quarter of 2014 the gross domestic product in volume terms decreased by 0.4 percent compared with the third quarter of 2014 against the decrease of 0.2 percent that was calculated for the flash estimate," the agency said.The ...

NEW DELHI: India's economy will grow by more than eight percent in the next financial year, the government said in a report published Friday, a day ahead of its first full-year national budget.The India Economic Survey said growth would be between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in the 2015/16 financial year, returning to levels last seen in 2010/11.The upbeat forecast came weeks after the government put growth for the current financial year at 7.4 percent, making ...

PARIS: French consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in January from December, data released on Friday showed , an indication that the traditional driver of the country's weak economy is showing signs of life.Among the areas of growth in household outlays were purchases of durable goods, up 1.9 percent, and cars, up 3.2 percent, the INSEE statistics agency said.The news follows two other encouraging sets of economic data this week: consumer morale, which reached its highest ...

ZAGREB: Croatia's economy contracted 0.4 percent in 2014, the state statistics bureau said in its flash estimate on Friday.It is the sixth consecutive year that the newest European Union member has recorded no growth. Since 2008 it has lost around 13 percent of its output.In the last quarter of 2014 the economy grew 0.3 percent year-on-year in its first quarter of growth after a decline for 12 consecutive quarters. The bureau will release detailed fourth ...